So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Sunday, August 7, 2016

The Pace is Picking Up

Well..... the appraisal came through fine. Since we're the sellers, we never know what it actually was. Just that it was okay. That's a little like ringing a bell, and the gates open and the horses tear out of the gates. The race is on!

Can we mention here that we are no longer race horses! More like old nags ready to be put out to pasture, so the whole concept of running a race the next month is a bit frightening! Our kids here in Texas are moving within a handful of days of us, and so they're in the middle of this crazy mess too. On top of moving they both work full time, have two young kids, one of which starts school days after they close on their house, our son starts his doctorate work the day they move, and classes start at the college where he's Dean of Students, so they have SO much more to contend with than we do.

All we have to do is get all our stuff from point A to point B, sort of. That's the short version of it anyway. The difference is 30 years of youth they have that we don't. I'm sure they're thinking they'd love to be only doing what we're doing, while we're thinking we'd love to have their joints and stamina.

By the time we'd heard the inspection was okay, and the appraisal was okay, we'd burned a good two weeks of our 45 days til closing; you can't really do much in the interim, then all of the sudden you need to do everything.

So here's what we've been up to:

We hired movers. To move us out, into storage. Then out of storage into our next house.

We rented a storage space that will hold our stuff for at least six months. They assure us a 10 x 30 will hold it all with some room to spare. They're also reserving one truck to move us. When we moved into this house it took THREE trucks. We've gotten rid of so much stuff since we moved into this house! I'm finding having to sort, box, and move all your stuff makes you deliriously unattached to any of it. If I wouldn't grab it if the house was on fire, I'm considering whether we really need it. So far, I'm convinced Cub Sweetheart, Bev and Lily are making the move.

We've looked into a place to store a vehicle for the same amount of time, near the airport so we can fly back and forth to visit family and check on our house that is being built, and not have to rent a car every time. We can store the truck for six months for about the same it would cost us to rent a car two or three times.

We've started tearing into closets - again - this time with a vengeance. We did our first sort for the garage sale this past spring, but we're getting rid of more.

We've given our grown kids lots of our old toys, keepsakes, antiques that we still had around the house. It's fun to give something to someone who will treasure it. I love seeing "YES!" as a reply to a text I send, asking if any of the three kids wants something. I also love seeing "NO!". Everyone moves eventually and less is more.

We called a charity who will come to our house next week and haul it all off. Everything we are giving away will support a good cause. There are so many good charities out there who will provide this service, come right to your door, and take it all away.

We reserved tickets to take the Littles to see Pete's Dragon on opening night this coming weekend, so we can have time with them, and so their parents can have a night to pack. I'm remembering that little people are not necessarily helpful to the moving process.

We applied to get absentee ballots mailed to Idaho so we can vote in the upcoming election. We will vote for someone. It's a privilege to live in a country where we can vote, so we will. That's all I'll say about this whole election. I dislike politics on a good year, and this isn't a good year.

We're making menus but also eating whatever is in the fridge / freezer. Interesting meals but we're eating, and that's all that matters right now.

We've given away all sorts of stuff. A TV with built in DVD player and VCR player went like hot cakes; a like new pack-n-play made a young mom smile to take away free. I carted all my china to a tea house, where lots of ladies can enjoy it. Sometimes it's just easier to give it to someone rather than sell it.

We've also sent the buyers a list of all the furniture we're not keeping, and hoping they want some of it. Otherwise, I'll be online next week selling sofas, recliners, kitchen table and chairs, refrigerators, dining room hutch, Tv tables, etc. etc. etc. We're both feeling very free to get rid of so much stuff! Our plan is to pretend we're newlyweds, when the new house is finished, and furnish it as we go.

We've booked hotels from here to Idaho, and three kennels for Miss Lily, covering ten days of time we'll spend on the road, after we close on the house, lock the storage unit, and drive away.

(BTW, booking kennels is amazing! The cheapest, which we use in Goodland, Kansas, is $10 a night. We put her in her little kennel, pick her up a few days later, and there is a plastic coffee can on the counter where we can leave the money if we're satisfied, or not if we're not. The next one, in Golden, Colorado, is charging $21 a night, where she's in Tiny Tots. If she's scared there, playing with the other little dogs, then they'll put her in an area alone. She gets a clean blanket every night to sleep with. They also play the radio so the dogs aren't so scared. The last one, in Grand Junction, is $35 a night. All for the same 8 lb dog. I called one that was $42 a night and the dogs sleep on cots with sheepskin blankets. They will also read to your dog for another charge each night. Seriously. We Americans are a little crazy! Lily is no happier at the $35 a night gig than at the simple $10 one. When did everything get so out of whack?)

We've requested anti-anxiety meds for Lily, covering ten days of time on the road. Riding in the car is not her favorite, and kennels are even less. This could sound a bit crazy, but it only takes once for your dog to throw up on your car seat, to decide to drug the dog. I've tried talking to her, but that didn't work, so drugs it is. She can be alert once we make it to Idaho. I might be okay being less than alert for the trip too, now that I think about it.

We've booked a house cleaning service to come in and clean the house top to bottom, after we move out, so it's ready for the buyers. No way am I going to feel like doing this after the movers leave. Very well spent money.

We've turned in our last library books - a bit sad over it, but the library in CDA, Idaho is wonderful. It has a fireplace in the winter! I've already visited our new Texas library where we're building, and it'll be fine too. I just get pretty attached to the library wherever we live.

We've downloaded four audio books on my phone, to cover the miles. We ultimately chose The Nightinggale by Kristin Hannah, Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (best mystery ever supposedly), Killing Lincoln by O'Reilly, and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. (Thanks everyone for the suggestions on Facebook.) I'll also back Bonine and my knitting, packages of red licorice, crunch n munch, bottles of water and some fresh fruit. We've never taken a road trip without red licorice. (Notice the lack of chocolate. Way too hot for chocolate in the car. I learned this the hard way, shopping for chocolate bunnies for Littles for Easter. Left them in the car for a few hours and came out to yellow, pink, and blue lumps with bows.)

We've booked as many doctor appointments as we can, before we head out of town, so we can be away for six months or more. Also fresh haircuts for all three of us. We're going to be in Idaho long enough we'll have to find barbers and hair salons there. I've been told to see someone with nice looking hair and ask them where they go. It seems to me it would work well too, to see someone with awful hair, and ask them; keep a separate list of where to avoid....

We've freshened the planters outside the house, for the buyers. It's so stinking hot here everything is droopy, including us. We put new Lantana in the window box outside the kitchen window, and we'll put some new periwinkle and ivy in the front planters too. The geraniums I planted in March were beautiful for months on end, but they've just about given up. Nothing can really hold up to days on end of temps in the 100's.

We've called to have the shrubs trimmed right before we move out. We want everything to look nice for them when they move in. We're thinking they'd rather be swimming in the back yard than doing lawn work in the front.

Next for me is to pack up the play room / media room, and then my craft room, and sell my sewing table and credenza. I've learned, when packing up a house, to make a packing station on each floor. One room that will hold all the boxes, and a small table with sharpies, labels, packing paper, packing tape on a dispenser, and a box cutting knife. We're going to use the craft room upstairs, and the dining room downstairs, so we can still live as normal as possible up until the last few days before we move out.

Each box gets one label with the room it's going to (not from) and one label on a different side with what's inside. Because eventually all these boxes will have to be unpacked, and I've learned this system works. Also, the box with the coffee pot, coffee, filters, 2 coffee cups, paper towels, garbage bags and toilet paper will have a very big note on the outside where it's easily spotted. 'OPEN ME FIRST!'

Another box will be packed with bedding for our bed, and again, it will be marked so we can find it.

You can stand just about anything if you can sleep in your own bed, and drink coffee in the morning in your own kitchen.

So none of what we're doing is riveting, but all is necessary. This will be move #33 or #34 of my life, and for us as a couple it'll be #9 in 35 years, and that's feeling like a lot. Our hope is to stay in this home we're having built for as long as we are physically able. Like twenty or more years. Moving is a whip, but the culling is good. It's such a good reminder that stuff just doesn't matter much.

I'll be in touch as I can but the pace is definitely picking up around here. Hope all of you, unlike us, are having a nice, lazy end to summer. That's as it should be.

2 comments:

I am exhausted just reading about it all... and it makes me more determined than ever to stay as long as possible in this house. I am a pack rat, sentimental, and need someone like you to just come and remind me these things are worthless and it is time to purge! I go through cycles of purging, but need more. Lots more:-) Have a wonderful trip and time in Idaho. Hope you will be able to share pictures of the new construction!

All I can say is, you are superwoman! No doubt your past moves have made you super efficient! We've moved a lot, but probably not as much as y'all. I have certain go to lists that help in a move, and Good Lord willing, we will only have to do it one more time. Presently, we have my mother in love living behind us, and my own mother beside us, both with health problems and we are where we need to be right now, but we are in a bigger house than we will need for our own future. Not being able to sell right now gives us the chance to off load some things, too. I like your idea of giving away instead of selling. Enjoy your road trip and be safe!